Josie Dunne's Video for "Mute" is another in a series of infectious tunes paired with fun videos.

Artist Bio

It almost feels inevitable that Josie Dunne would become an artist of some kind. Although the musician and songwriter now calls Nashville home, she grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in an art-loving family. Everyone in Josies family creates. Her sister is a dancer, her older brother is a painter and her younger brother is a graphic designer and actor. For Josie, expression comes in the form of sincere, fun-loving pop music.

Songs have always been part of Josies life. Her parents raised the kids on Stevie Wonder, Etta James and Ray Charles, the songs blaring through the stereo alongside Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Josie learned piano and taught herself guitar, and took singing lessons from her cousin. She knew early on that music was the right career path for her to pursue, and she began flying to Nashville every month during high school for writing sessions with various producers and co-writers. It was through these sessions that Josie began to understand what sorts of songs were right for her.

I was writing with the whos who of songwriters, Josie says. My idols. It was a really cool way to start writing and it helped me find my own style. I owe a lot of my development to my co-writers. Overall, I think Nashville is a really cool place to come into your own. More pop music is coming out of Nashville now and its exciting to be part of writing those rules. The community Ive felt here is a huge part of who I am now.

For her first EP, To Be The Little Fish, Josie had a few specific goals. She wanted to capture the Motown-era music of her childhood, proving that soul music could feel cool again. The songs should feel modern but embrace those older influences, especially the use of horns. Josie worked with several collaborators, including Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, The Band Perry) and Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello), and got to lay down vocals for Cool With It at Nashvilles legendary Blackbird Studios. Old School, a fun, bubbly number, is the beating heart of the EP. When Josie laid it down she felt like shes tapped into something essential and the other five songs came from there.

Its the first one we had where it was like 'Thats it! she notes. Its been the centerpiece of what Ive been writing since then and dictated what I wanted things to sound and feel like. I think love songs are super important. But a lot of them are about tainted love and Ive got my fair share of tainted love songs but theres something amazing about a song thats super happy. Thats what I wanted to accomplish with 'Old School. Thats a reflection of who I am. Life is good. There isnt really much reason to complain. I believe everything I sing. Theres truth in all my songs, but hopefully in a way people havent heard yet.

The horns come into play on Cool With it, a satisfying pop song with a feel-good edge. Josies evocative, memorable vocals shine through, carrying the melody throughout. The music I grew up on has given me a solid base for knowing what I like in a song, she says. Listening to soul music makes you a better singer. It helps you feel everything you sing. And you have to feel what you sing.

Theres a nerdy vibe embedded into the tunes, too, and Josies the first to admit that. Shes passionate about what she loves and she cares about things unabashedly. She loves learning, in any form, and that sensibility comes out in the lyrics. Her music isnt just about being cool; its about being yourself and being authentic. Watching documentaries, movies and TV shows, and listening to podcasts has helped Josie understand that its essential to create an immersive feeling with her art. She brings in a lot of visual components onstage (as well as a live trumpet shes been learning to play) and she hopes her music takes you somewhere special.

Learning, to me, is really exciting, Josie says. That might be the ultimate nerdy thing to say, but thats what I do for fun. In a lot of ways, movies and videos and podcasts really influence what I do. I get inspired by a world that is created in a visual way, whether its watching a movie or going to an aquarium and being surrounded by a tank of fish. Its a world in itself. Thats something I try to do. I want to put the listener in this story and this other world.